1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of seat belt buckles, and particularly to a buckle assembly useful in a system including an automatic locking belt retractor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Seat and shoulder belt systems, such as typically employed in passenger vehicles, include an automatic retractor device for collecting excess belting and providing tensioning for the system. The system may include, for example, a spring-biased spool for urging the webbed belt around the spool and thus into the retractor. Once the seat belt and shoulder harness are secured by buckling, the excess belt is retracted.
In systems including an automatic locking retractor, the belt will pay out of the retractor only after the belt has been fully retracted. One drawback of such systems is that the belt may therefore cinch down on the occupant, and the tightened condition cannot be relieved without removing the belt and retracting it fully into the retractor. During a rough ride, the occupant may be pushed or bounced down in the seat, at which time the retractor recognizes the slack in the belt and takes it up. When the seat attempts to move to the original position, the retractor will not pay webbing out, and the occupant is restrained in the lower position.
The present invention overcomes the cinching problem by providing a mechanism to offset the tendency of the retractor to collect all of the slack in the belt. The buckle assembly of the present invention includes a means for collecting a portion of the extended belt in lieu of collection by the automatic locking retractor, and then will pay the belting back out to compensate for movement in the vehicle seat.